Welcome to the ultimate guide to building your character in The Elder Scrolls Online (ESO) for 2024. From setting goals to choosing skills, we'll cover everything you need to know to conquer Tamriel. Whether you're a new player or an ESO veteran, this guide will help you create your strongest character yet.

 

• Setting A Goal
• Picking Your Race
• Attributes
• Food & Drink Buffs
• Potions
• Mundus Stones
• The Right Abilities 
• Skills Example 
• Sample Rotation
• Don't Forget Passives!
• Picking Your Sets
• Weapon, Armor & Jewelry Traits
• Using The Best Glyphs
• Explain Champion Points
• About Testing
• Zero to Hero Build Guide

 

 

↖ Setting A Goal

Before you dive into creating your character, stop and think about what exactly you want from them. This isn't just about picking a class or weapon - it's about defining your journey. Are you trying to solo quests with finesse, or be the backbone of a dungeon group? Your goals will shape what build you use and how you play.

 

↖ Picking Your Race

Race in The Elder Scrolls Online is more than just aesthetics - each race gives your character small advantages. While it's not going to make or break your build, it can definitely fine-tune how strong they are.

Dark Elves and Khajiit are versatile choices that work well for any kind of build - they offer balanced stats for both magicka and stamina users. For people looking to compete at high levels, races like High Elves for Magicka DPS or Orcs for Stamina DPS provide some extra power. Prefer tanking? Nords and Imperials are made of stone. Argonians and Bretons offer sustain that can keep your allies alive if healing is what beats your drum.

 

↖ Attributes

Attributes form the foundation of any build in ESO. Will you channel the arcane with magicka, or rely on stamina for raw physical power instead? For most builds it's better to dump all points into one attribute rather than splitting them between two as it maximizes damage output or healing potential depending on which path you choose.

 

↖ Food & Drink Buffs

A good meal can do wonders! Food and drinks aren't just for role playing in ESO, they're vital buffs that can make your character much stronger. New players should look for balanced options like Witchmother's Potent Brew or Dubious Camoran Throne which give good amounts of health and recovery alongside your main resource stat. As you grow more experienced with the game start looking at foods that specialise in either stats or recovery; these will push you even further past the competition.

 

↖ Potions

Potions are quick sips of power that can turn any fight around. When you first start out simple Stamina or Magicka potions will be more than enough to keep you going. But as you learn more about ESO's alchemical arts, try and find potions that restore resources while also giving damage boosts or extra critical chance. But it's good to note that some of these buffs actually come from skills themselves.

 

↖ Mundus Stones

Mundus Stones, they say, are the silent boosters scattered out in the wild. Each one comes with its own unique stat buff. For pure damage dealers, The Thief will give you a nice crit chance increase. You can also slice right through defensive lines with The Lover's penetration buff. If you're all about soaking up damage like a sponge, then The Lord is perfect for you - it'll give you an extra health buffer to work with.

And finally if being a healer is just your thing, then look no further than The Ritual which will boost those already strong healing powers of yours. Choose wisely though and make sure the buffs aligns with your build's goals!

 

↖ The Right Abilities 

In ESO, picking abilities can be a lot. Each class offers three different lines of abilities and there are so many options to pick from. A good practice is to level each line evenly by putting one ability from them on your active bar. As you go, try to find a mix that works for what you're doing - damage dealers should split direct damage skills with area of effect ones, healers need healing abilities on all their bars, and tanks have to balance taunts with defensive skills and utility.

 

Make sure you change your skill bar depending on what's happening - front bars should have immediate action skills while back bars can be set up with long lasting effects like buffs or damage over time.

 

↖ Skills Example 

If you're making a Magicka Templar that'll run around all by itself, it's best to have skills in your primary bar focused on survivability and damage. Equip a lightning staff and choose skills like Puncturing Sweep (DPS/self-healing), Toppling Charge (damage/gap closing), and some form of shield like Living Dark (protection). Don't forget about utility! Skills like Inner Light from the Mages Guild help increase your Max Magicka and critical chance.

 

↖ Sample Rotation

Going back and forth between offense and defense should be smooth. Start with your back bar in order to put down buffs, debuffs, and AOE dots. When you switch back to the front bar, everything from the back will still deal damage so that you can focus on single-target damage skills. Drop shields or heals when taking hits. As soon as those back bar abilities start wearing off refresh them before going through the cycle again.

 

↖ Don't Forget Passives!

Passive skills are often overlooked but can do a lot for your build. Damage output, healing efficiency, cost reduction, resource recovery - they all benefit from passives if invested in correctly. Prioritize passive skills based on the role because damage dealers need passives that increase damage, healers need ones that boost healing, and tanks should focus on armor and block mitigation.

 

↖ Picking Your Sets

Gear sets are crucial. You have to select them based on what you want your build to be. To max out on damage output, go for sets that increase critical chance and offensive penetration. Builds focused on defense should prioritize bonuses like health and resistances while healers might want Magicka or stamina recovery bonuses.

 

↖ Weapon, Armor & Jewelry Traits

Traits can make or break a build's effectiveness. For weapons consider Precise (increased critical chance) or Sharpened (higher penetration). Armor traits like Divine amplify Mundus Stones and Sturdy is great for tanks. Bloodthirsty gives a damage boost against enemies with low health.

 

↖ Using The Best Glyphs

Extra customization comes from Glyphs. Armor glyphs most often give you bonuses in Health, Magicka, or Stamina. Jewelry glyphs can be used to enhance weapon and spell damage or recovery rates. There is no standard type for weapon glyphs - while front bar ones tend to be offensive (like Flame or Absorb Stamina), back bar ones usually buff weapon and spell damage.

 

↖ Explain Champion Points

Champion Points (CP) fall into three different categories: Craft (green), Warfare (blue), and Fitness (red). Put CP depending on what your build needs - green for utility, blue for combat effectiveness (damage/healing), red for survivability/resource management.

 

↖ About Testing

Testing your build is absolutely vital. Take your character out for a spin with target dummies and solo world bosses to see how much damage you can deal. Tanks can try their hand at soloing dungeons and healers can pop companions on cooldown. For PVP, practice burst combos on tougher mobs or head into Battlegrounds.

 

↖ Zero to Hero Build Guide

Zero to Hero Build Guide has all the information you need to go from noob to endgame ESO player in just 2 hours worth of content available on our website. We have included plenty of detailed examples as well as a build planner so that you can keep track of your progress.

 

Just remember: Building a character in ESO is an ongoing process; as the game evolves, so should your strategies. By following this guide and continually adapting your approach, you'll be well on your way to becoming a formidable force in Tamriel.

 

And those are the basic principles for building the ultimate ESO character in 2024. With these guidelines, and a bit of dedication, you'll be able to leave your mark on the ESO community for generations to come. Now go out there and get em champ!